Torchwood: Miracle Day – Bill Pullman and John Barrowman launch series

Bill Pullman and John Barrowman are at MIPtv in Cannes to launch Torchwood: Miracle Day to television buyers.

This time the story centers around people getting older or ill but not dying causing a rise in population forcast to exceed what the world can sustain. The series premieres in the States on July 8, 2011 on Starz.

Show-runner Russell T Davies is working with BBC Worldwide for Starz Entertainment and BBC Cymru Wales to bring the forth instalment of this Doctor Who spin-off series to tv screens worldwide. Russell said at the TCA in LA earlier this year “It’s an interesting hybrid of a show. Part of the action is in Britain. Most of the action is in America”.

John Barrowman returns to lead the cast in his iconic role as Captain Jack Harkness, and is joined in the new series by film star Bill Pullman.

Bill told how he heard of the project “I first heard about it from a professor. That’s a good credential, isn’t it? But he was kind of slumming it with his love for Torchwood. He said, ‘This is my sin, but I love this series.’ This was two years ago. So, yeah, I’ve been kind of tracking it. And the great thing is the idea of a hybrid. Culturally, you know, we’ve got the Brits and the Americans working together, which is always full of spark.”

Joining John and Bill at the MIPtv event is executive producer Julie Gardner. Julie’s other credits include Life on Mars, Doctor Who and Casanova. For those last last two she also worked with Torchwood show-runner Russell T Davies.

Starz official info on the series

One day, nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. And then the next day, and the next, and the next, people keep ageing — they get hurt and sick — but they never die. The result: a population boom, overnight.With all the extra people, resources are finite. It’s said that in four month’s time, the human race will cease to be viable. But this can’t be a natural event – someone’s got to be behind it. It’s a race against time as C.I.A. agent Rex Matheson investigates a global conspiracy. The answers lie within an old, secret British institute. As Rex keeps asking “What is Torchwood?”, he’s drawn into a world of adventure, and a threat to change what it means to be human, forever.

John Barrowman and Bill Pullman to launch – Torchwood: Miracle Day at MIPTV 2011
Date: 25.03.2011John Barrowman and Bill Pullman will be heading to Cannes to promote the new series of hit sci-fi drama Torchwood at MIPTV 2011.The fourth instalment, titled Torchwood: Miracle Day, is distributed by BBC Worldwide, and will be launched to buyers on Monday 4th April with the two stars attending the event alongside executive producer Julie Gardner.Barrowman returns to lead the cast in his iconic role as Captain Jack Harkness, and is joined in the new series by film star Pullman, whose credits include Independence Day, While You Were Sleeping and Lost Highway.Julie Gardner, Senior Vice President, Scripted, BBC Worldwide Productions, has worked on all four series of Torchwood, and her other credits include Life on Mars, Doctor Who and Casanova.Her producing partner is Torchwood creator Russell T. Davies, who has scripted Miracle Day with an A-list team of writers including John Shiban (Breaking Bad, The X-Files), Doris Egan (House) and Jane Espenson (Game of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer).Torchwood: Miracle Day is produced by BBC Worldwide Productions for Starz Entertainment, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Worldwide.Featuring locations in the US and around the world, the plot sees a C.I.A operative (played by ER’s Mekhi Phifer) join forces with the team to investigate a global conspiracy that has put an end to human death, causing a population boom and resource crisis.Pullman plays Oswald Danes, a convicted child killer who survives his own execution, and Eve Myles reprises her role as Gwen Cooper.Steve Macallister, Managing Director of BBC Worldwide Sales & Distribution, commented, “We’re thrilled to have John Barrowman and Bill Pullman with us at MIPTV.The fact that Torchwood: Miracle Day is able to attract such a high-calibre, international cast reflects the quality of the production – so it’s sure to prove popular with buyers again, along with the rest of our exciting drama slate.”In addition to Torchwood: Miracle Day, BBC Worldwide will also be presenting popular returning series Doctor Who (S6), the critically-acclaimed Luther (S2), series three of Being Erica, Primeval (S4 &5), and the second series of the BAFTA winning Misfits.New dramas on this year’s MIPTV slate include ratings hit Upstairs Downstairs, which has already been re-commissioned for an extended second series; South Riding, starring David Morrissey and Anna Maxwell Martin; an adaptation of Sarah Waters’ best-selling novel, The Night Watch; star-studded sci-fi series Outcasts; and the Will Young-starring supernatural thriller Bedlam.BBC Worldwide MIPCOM Stand G3.4